


Piaffe

by albinosquirrels



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Erwin rides English, Horses, Levi loves horses like damn, Levi rides Western, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, cursing just because I curse a lot and so does Levi, dressage, idk what the heck I'm doing, in which Jean is actually a horse, it should just be Levi/horses, it will be about more than just horses i promise omg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-24 11:39:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1603781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albinosquirrels/pseuds/albinosquirrels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin is a wealthy dressage rider, trainer, and owner who excels at higher-level national and FEI competitions. Levi is a stable boy who loathes the rich men and women who he sees as caring nothing about the horses, only about their own notoriety and wealth, expressed by who has the most championship steeds to their name. Naturally, of course, he takes no time in deciding his hate for everything Erwin says and does, and hates even more that Erwin does not seem to want to give him a moment’s peace and quiet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trost Oaks Stable and Green

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I haven't written a legitimate fic in two years, so I am veeery rusty dear lord. Second, I have no beta to read over and tell me if my writing is shit. So let's just hope it's not shit.
> 
> Anyway, this AU is based off of my girlfriend telling me to do a horse AU "because you know about horses." I don't think she actually wanted me to write one, but here we are.
> 
> I don't know much about Dressage in particular, but I spent years as a stable hand growing up. My experiences lie more on the side Levi takes in this fic. Hopefully I'll be able to express all aspects of the Equestrian world properly though! And hopefully I can make it enjoyable for people who aren't into horses as well.

It was 7:43 am when Levi made it to the gates of Trost Oaks Stable and Green. He only lived a few blocks up the road, in the small complex rented out to the poorer stable hands, but he had taken his time in getting to work. It was a Sunday and it had been a particularly grueling few days, what with horses coming in and out, preparing for the previous day’s race at the nearby Grand Maria racetrack, so he was allowed to be a little late to work today in his own mind.

“You’re late!” called a gruff voice from the dusty path in front of the main office. Levi groaned, rolling his eyes as he heard his boss’s hard footsteps approach him. He supposed not everyone felt the same way he did. Then again, it’s not like Nile understood what it was like to actually work the grounds every day.

“It’s a Sunday, let it go,” he replied, stopping and turning to look at the man when they were side by side. “It’s not like there’s ever much to do on Sundays anyway. You should be glad I even came.” His voice was bored and unamused, dried from the constant dust of his workplace. He was just about to turn around and continue walking when he felt the deepening of his boss’s perpetual scowl and stopped mid-step.

“Actually,” Nile began, his rough words drawling slowly, “We have a new client moving his horses in this afternoon, and he’s paying top price to rent Barn C. I want you to get it cleaned up and ready for him and I want it to look like those stalls have never been used before. Got it?”

Levi frowned at the man for a minute. He had remembered a few renters’ horses had been moved from Barn C to Barn A not too long ago. Was this the reason why? Some big-wig wanted an entire barn to himself? And then it hit him. “The _whole thing?_ ” he asked in barely hidden incredulousness, his nose wrinkling at the thought. Barns weren’t huge, but cleaning an entire one would take a single person hours to accomplish.

“The whole thing,” Nile repeated flatly, although the glint in his eye betrayed his pleasure in giving Levi the assignment. “The client will be here at three. Get working.”

With a clearly directed grimace, Levi nodded his head and turned back to the path toward the covered stables, aptly named Barns A-F. If Nile wanted him to clean an entire fucking barn, he would, and he’d do a hell of a good job of it too, time constraints be damned.

When he reached Barn C, he took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of musk and old hay that still lingered from the previous tenants. Of course no one had thought to clean _before_ the day that their client would be moving in. Sometimes he wondered just what the staff here were thinking when they planned the work schedule. _Never mind that though,_ he thought, and moved off to the tack room where, like in every barn, he kept a stash of cleaning supplies in the cupboard.

\--

Three hours later, and he was a little more than halfway done with his deep-clean. He had mucked and replaced the bedding in each of the stalls and had removed the old hay from the feed racks. He had, for the most part, scrubbed the dust and dirt from the walls as well, and was currently attacking the cobwebs that had built up along the ceiling with a broom.

In his solitude, he had plenty of time to think about the things that irked him. Nile, his boss, was one of them. As were his deadbeat coworkers, all of whom he couldn’t even be bothered to learn the names of save for Hanji. And then there was this guy, who had apparently rented out an entire goddamn stable for his horses. Renting a stall at Trost Oaks was not cheap in the slightest, and it was often a point of pride for the rich bastards who kept their show ponies here. Whoever this was, they must have been terribly wealthy. He wondered why, then, this person didn’t just keep their horses at their own house? Surely there would be room for them there. _Probably because he doesn’t actually give a shit about the things_ , he thought, _just wants to forget about them until they can win him some money on race day or whatever, like the rest of these people_.

Levi shrugged, deciding to let it go and get through with his work before three so that he wouldn’t have to be here and deal with whoever it was moving their horses in.

\--

It was quarter till three when he finished cleaning the barn. Each stall was plush with fresh bedding and new hay and there was not a cobweb to be found. Levi had even polished every hook in the tack room for good measure. Even with his bad attitude, Nile would never be able to chastise him for work ethic. Giving one last wipe to the top of the cupboard, Levi set his supplies back in place and left the barn in haste, eager to be gone before anyone else showed up.

He made his way down the path towards Barn F, figuring he had time enough for a break to check on his own horse. Barn F was the same size as the other barns, however it held twice as many stalls, each only half the size of the larger, more expensive stalls in the other barns. These were, naturally, cheaper; and with the discount cost of rent as an employee, it was the only way he could hope to afford keeping a horse of his own. Despite the cramped space, though, Levi always paid special attention to keeping the stalls and aisle here clean, since it was where he spent much of his time.

Halfway down the aisle on the left side was Jean, Levi’s best- and only- horse. A chestnut Quarter Horse with a thick white blaze, Jean was young and still a bit rowdy. Levi liked that about him though. He was raised on a ranch, dusty and dirty and not at all like the stables where he worked now. Back then there were no rich, prissy owners who sought after perfect, broken horses. You broke your horse yourself. There was no such thing as perfect. He and Jean were nowhere near perfect, but that just made them an even greater team.

With a quick pet on the nose and a hot breath blown back in his face, Levi slipped a halter over Jean’s head and secured it tightly behind his ears. They wouldn’t get to do much, but Levi wanted to at least give the young gelding a bit of exercise. He let the heavy wooden door of the stall fall open as he lead Jean out of the barn.

\--

Ring number 4 was not the largest or nicest ring in Trost Oaks by far, but Levi liked it because it was secluded and rarely ever in use. It was a perfect place to let Jean, or any horse he happened to be exercising, run around and let off steam. The next two hours were spent watching the large horse as he galloped around the ring, whinnying and bucking in joy at being let out of his stall for some fresh air. Even if sitting in the sun to watch bored Levi out of his mind, it still put him in a good mood to know that Jean was happy. At least one horse had an owner who cared in this god-forsaken place.

Actually, make that two. As eccentric as she was, Levi had to admit that Hanji cared for her own horse at least as much as he did. Her hot-blooded little Arab, Eren, tended to pick fights with Jean, but he was still a good horse overall. He was a striking dark bay who responded well to Hanji’s… unique training methods. Levi smiled as he thought about his friend, probably the only other person here that understood the true companionship to be found within a horse.

He didn’t even notice Nile’s footsteps until the taller man was standing beside him and clearing his throat with a gravely cough. “You did an exceptional job with Barn C,” he stated curtly, his eyes watching as Jean pranced around at the far side of the ring. “The new renter was thoroughly impressed.” There was a pause, Levi didn’t say anything. “I’ll be honest; I didn’t think you could do it. I… why don’t you take the rest of the day off? It’s nearly five, anyway.” After a few more moments of silence, Nile walked away.

Well, thank fucking god.


	2. Mr. Smith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Three horses?!” Levi wasn’t sure whether to be angry or impressed or just flat-out surprised. “He rented the entire barn for three goddamn horses?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while to get up, I seem to have some stupid inability to write more than like 250 words at a time before getting stuck and having to stop for a while. Anyway, I'm thrilled to see that this has been receiving some positive feedback! I hope you guys continue to enjoy, and hope you don't mind the short chapters.
> 
> Also, I'll be adding footnotes at the end of each chapter to explain certain things like terminology and such to hopefully help out those unfamiliar with the equestrian world. I'll also be using them to explain extra details that don't exactly fit into the body of the fic, like lists and such.

Levi didn’t have to work again until Tuesday, Monday being the one day each week that he had off to himself. Sometimes he wished that he had a normal weekend like most people, but it wasn’t like he really needed it anyway. He didn’t have a family to stay home with, or friends to go out with in the first place, so leaving the weekends to those who did was the least he could do. Plus, Mondays were the hardest day of the week, weren’t they? The fact that he got to spend it sleeping in was always enough to make him not mind the weekend shifts.

And so, it was with a refreshed mind that he found himself at Trost Oaks Tuesday morning at 6:55 am, a whole thirty-five minutes early.

It only took a few minutes before he heard a set of rushed footsteps behind him and a familiar voice that called, “Levi!!! You’re early!” Well, wasn’t that the most obvious thing in the world for her to say.

“Morning, Hanji,” the short man replied with a sigh, turning to look at his friend as she eagerly sidled up beside him. “What are you doing here already? Don’t you usually get to work at the last second?” he questioned, meeting her gaze with slight unease. She looked just as excited as ever, which to Levi felt completely out of place in the tired blandness of early morning.

“Well, I haven’t exactly seen you since Friday… So I thought I’d get here early and surprise you when you came in to work! And it looks like I did, didn’t I?” she grinned, nudging Levi’s shoulder for emphasis. “Anyway, did you hear? Some new guy rented out all of Barn C! Amazing, huh?”

Levi tried his best not to roll his eyes. “Yeah, I know,” he groaned. “I’m the one who cleaned the whole damn thing before he came.”

“That’s right!” Hanji exclaimed. “I forgot you work on Sundays, so of course you knew. Well, apparently this guy just moved here from Sina; probably a big-shot looking to get away from the big city. Gotta be wealthy as heck, too, if he can rent a whole _barn_ here just like that.”

Sina was a large city springing with wealth a few hours north of Trost. It was the center of a booming economy and a garden of rising politicians and budding companies. Just the thought of the place made Levi, with his decidedly simplistic lifestyle, feel sick. _Just what I need around here_ , he thought. _Another rich city slicker with his head up his ass_.

Hanji cut through his thoughts as she continued to speak. “So, mister Sunday shift, have you seen the new horses yet?”

“No.”

“Well… Do you want to?” There was a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Are you going to make me whether I want to or not?” he asked, skeptical.

“Only always.”

This time he really did roll his eyes. “Then let’s go and get it over with.”

\--

“ _Three horses?!_ ” Levi wasn’t sure whether to be angry or impressed or just flat-out surprised. “He rented the entire barn for _three goddamn horses?_ ” He had cleaned twelve stalls for this guy, and yet here they were, for the most part completely unused.

“Huh, that’s odd,” Hanji said, completely unphased by her smaller coworker’s reaction. “There were four here when I came to see them yesterday. Wonder where the fourth one’s gone?” She walked up to one of the occupied stalls, extending her hand for the large black horse inside to sniff. “Maybe the owner’s taken it out for a ride. That’d be nice.”

Levi snorted derisively. “At seven in the morning? On a Tuesday? I doubt it.” He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “More likely some poor kid like us getting paid to exercise this asshole’s horses since he’s probably too busy being rich to care.”

Hanji was about to retort when the sound of hoofbeats cut off their conversation. “It looks like we’re about to find out,” she grinned, moving away from the stall to turn towards the entrance where the noise was coming from. Levi, on the other hand, was more than ready to leave, the only things stopping him being his steadfast friend and the hoofbeats growing louder outside, now close enough that the faint sound of spurred boots could be heard alongside them.

Moments later, a figure appeared at the entrance, accompanied by a beautiful dapple grey mare. The figure, tall and blond and definitely not ‘some poor kid’ by any standards, stopped when he noticed the two hands standing in front of him. He had paused in his footsteps for a split second, as if taken by surprise, and then smiled. It was a warm, welcoming smile, although Levi refused to acknowledge it with anything more than distain. “May I help you?” He asked, looking between Hanji and Levi.

Hanji was the first to speak up. “Oh, we’re just hands here, and we just thought we’d stop by to make sure the new horses were settled in before we started our shift!” She explained excitedly. “It looks like they’re adjusting quite nicely, I’d say—“

“Yes, and so we were just leaving,” Levi interrupted, moving to push Hanji towards the exit. He didn’t want to spend any more time in this man’s presence than he had to, having elected a long time ago that the best way to deal with his distaste for the wealthy was to avoid them altogether. His plans were foiled, however when the man’s deep voice spoke again.

“Ah, no, wait,” he began, his eyes following the two as Levi guided Hanji towards the exit. “I haven’t had a chance to talk with anyone here yet besides Nile. As long as you’re not on duty, why don’t you stay a little longer?”

It was all Levi could manage to suppress a groan as he was stopped in his tracks by Hanji’s weight as she stopped and turned around, excitement in her eyes.

“We’d love to!” she managed before Levi could do anything to stop her. Once both of them were facing the man, she took it upon herself to proceed with introductions. “My name is Hanji Zoë, and this is—“

“Levi,” the shorter man interrupted again.

“Yes, this is Levi. Don’t mind his grumpy attitude; he’s just not a morning person.” There was a hint of a giggle in her voice. “We’d like to personally welcome you to Trost Oaks, Mister…”

“Erwin Smith,” the man, Erwin, replied.

“Mr. Smith! Excellent! We are very happy to have you here.” Hanji was absolutely beaming; she loved meeting new people, no matter what the circumstances. It pissed Levi off to the ends of the earth.

“Thank you.” His warm smile remained, quite unnerving if Levi thought so himself, even as he began to move again, hitching his horse in front of one of the empty stalls. “So tell me,” he continued on after a short silence, “what do the two of you do here?”

Again, Hanji was the first to speak up. “Oh, you know, this and that. We mostly clean up the stalls and distribute feed to each of the horses. It’s kind of a monotonous job, but it’s worth it when you get to spend so much time with such beautiful creatures! Isn’t that right, Levi?”

Levi simply grunted in return, not in any particular mood to speak of his ‘enjoyment’ to be raking shit out of 50 horses’ stalls each day.

Hanji shrugged, continuing with her explanation. “Sometimes we exercise horses as well if the owner can’t do it themselves, although most hire outside trainers for that. Other than that… I guess we all have our little jobs that we do around here. I manage the water systems, and Levi here is pretty amazing with ropes, so he’s usually the first one called up if a horse ever spooks and gets loose.” With that, she smiles, having finished her summary quite nicely

In the meantime, Erwin had removed the wrappings from his horse’s legs and tail and was now working on the light saddle on the mare’s back. “That sounds like a tiring job,” he said with a sigh as he lifted the saddle and pad off of his horse. “I hope they pay you well.”

_Not well enough_ , Levi thought with a scowl. He wouldn’t let this Mr. Smith know any little bit of it though, not when this man was very obviously too wealthy to even know how low-paying jobs worked. They were always the tough ones, the ones that people well-off refused to take. Of course, he was just finding reasons to gripe again at this point.

“Ah, I suppose I should probably tell you a bit about myself then as well, it’s only fair,” Erwin continued, smile never fading. “I just recently moved here from Sina, where I lived downtown. I suppose…”

At this point he disappeared into the tack room for a moment to put away the saddle. Once he was out of sight, Levi took it upon himself to ram a heavy heel into the toe of Hanji’s boot, shooting her a sideways glare for getting them into this mess. The small wince on her face was his only reward before Erwin emerged again.

“…I suppose I just needed a break from the big city. All of that concrete and metal can’t be good for the mind. So I decided to move out here, where I could be closer to my horses and let myself live at a slightly… slower pace, like the two of you must do. Now don’t get me wrong, I still have a place in the city and I still do occasionally have to take business up there, but overall this should prove good for me and my job.” By now, Erwin had replaced the sleek double bridle on the mare’s head with a soft halter and was almost through brushing off the damp spot where the saddle had been. “Ah, do either of you mind putting this away?” he asked distractedly, holding out the bridle between them as he untied his horse to let her back into her stall.

Levi was damn well ready to punch him for asking, as they were most certainly not his own personal servants, but instead snatched it none-too-gingerly and held his tongue. He walked to the tack room behind him, pausing as he heard Erwin call from outside, “Second hook on the left!”

‘Second hook on the left,’ he mocked bitterly, placing the headstall in the allocated location. Above the hook was a small label that read “Fleur – Training.” It must have been the horse’s name, and the labels on the two adjacent hooks backed this up, as they were “Fleur – Casual” and “Fleur – Showing.” At least this Mr. Smith was well organized, if nothing else.

Looking down at his watch as he strode back out of the room, Levi was both irritated and relieved to see it was now after 7:30. It meant Hanji and he had wasted their entire free half hour here instead of talking about the weekend and tending to their own horses, but it also meant that he now had a reason to leave. Stopping a few feet from his colleague, he cleared his throat. “Sorry Mr. Smith, but it’s time for us to get to work. I hope we haven’t bothered you.” With that, the most he’d probably said since the man got there, he turned to leave, Hanji catching quickly up with him after a friendly goodbye.

“Not at all,” Erwin called after them. “It was a pleasure. I’ll see you both around!”

Levi merely grunted again in response, but as he left, he could swear he felt a cool gaze set on the back of his head, and it was more than a little unnerving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who are the horses owned by the characters introduced so far? Let's find out!
> 
> Name “Nickname” (Colour Breed, Gender, Specialties) – Owner
> 
> Jean (Chestnut Quarter Horse, Gelding, Roping and Western Trail Riding) – Levi
> 
> Eren (Dark Bay Arabian, Gelding, Pleasure and ‘trick pony’) – Hanji
> 
> Fleur de Ma Vie “Fleur” (Dapple Grey Dutch Warmblood, Mare, Dressage) – Erwin
> 
> Stick to It “Oxford” (Bay Hanoverian, Stallion, Dressage) – Erwin
> 
> Diese Schwarze Sonne “Sunshine” (Black Trakehner, Stallion, Dressage and English Pleasure) – Erwin
> 
> A Penny for a Pound “Penny” (Black Tobiano* Pinto American Saddlebred, Mare, Saddle Seat and English Pleasure) – Erwin
> 
> Leon (Black Friesian, Stallion, Pleasure and Film) – Nile
> 
> *Note: Tobiano is one of the many types of Pinto colourations. It is the most well known, and can be recognized for its large, smooth-edged patches in a 'vertical' pattern, versus the small broken edges of the horizontal Overo pattern.


End file.
